Internationally, Ćorluka represented Croatia at various youth levels before making his first team debut in August 2006, in the friendly match against world champions Italy. Since then, he has represented the country at the European Championships in 2008, 2012, 2016 and at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Ćorluka was born in Derventa, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, SFR Yugoslavia. His parents, Jozo and Anđa come from Modran, a village near Derventa. Due to the war in Bosnia, in 1992 the family moved to Zagreb, Croatia where his father still works as an engineer besides being Ćorluka's manager. His mother is a judge. Vedran has one brother.[2] He started to play football in Dinamo Zagreb's youth teams when he was eight years old, impressing many scouts from the youth academy.[3] Ćorluka's professional career started in 2003, but during that season he made no appearance for the first team. He was sent on loan to Inter Zaprešić and played one season for them, helping the team place second in the league, before returning to Dinamo Zagreb in 2005. After establishing himself as a key player in Dinamo, he helped them win the Croatian First League title three seasons in a row from 2005–06. He also played a dominant part in his side capturing the Croatian cup in the 2006 season.

After consistently strong performances, Ćorluka was signed by Manchester City on 2 August 2007.[4][5] City did not reveal the fee, but Croatian media reports suggested the deal was worth around £8 million, with the 21-year-old penning a five-year deal.[6]

As usual, he consistently found a starting spot for his side in the Premier League. Despite a nightmare blunder during his side's shocking 6–0 defeat to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, he remained strong during his first season in England as his side finished 9th in the league and gained entry to a UEFA Cup qualifying round via the UEFA fair play ranking. On few rare occasions, he was also used as a defensive midfielder during the season, proving to be a factor for opposing attackers.

He scored his first goal in the 4–2 loss at Aston Villa on the opening weekend of the 2008–09 season.[7] In the UEFA Cup second qualifying round match second leg, Ćorluka scored the decisive spot kick in the dramatic 4–2 penalty shoot-out victory over Danish minnows Midtjylland after the tie had ended 1–1 on aggregate. He played his last match for City against Sunderland on 31 August 2008, throwing his shirt into the crowd at the end of the match.[8]

On 1 September 2008, it was announced that Ćorluka had signed for Tottenham Hotspur for a fee of £5.5 million on a six-year contract, joining his fellow Croatian international and best friend, Luka Modrić at the club.[9] During the game against Stoke City on 19 October, Ćorluka was severely injured. Kneed under his chin by teammate Heurelho Gomes, he was immediately knocked unconscious. After ten minutes of on field treatment he was rushed to hospital where it was announced no serious damage was evident.[10] In the League Cup final on 1 March 2009, Ćorluka scored his first and Tottenham's only penalty in the shootout loss to Manchester United.[11]

In the January 2012 transfer window, Ćorluka signed on loan for Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen for the remainder of the 2011–12 season on 31 January with the option to buy out his contract in the summer transfer window.[13]

On 27 June 2012, Lokomotiv Moscow announced the signing of Ćorluka from Tottenham Hotspur for £5.5million. The signing came in light of recent naming of Slaven Bilić, an ex-Croatia manager, as the manager of Lokomotiv. Ćorluka signed a three-year contract following the successful completion of his medical examination.[20] He scored on his debut against newly promoted Mordovia Saransk in a 3–2 victory. In September 2012,[21] March 2014,[22] and December 2014[23] Ćorluka won the monthly poll among Loko supporters in the social networks and was named the best club player of the month. In June 2015, after Ćorluka helped Lokomotiv to win Russian Cup, fans named him team's Player of the Year.[24]

He started to play for the Croatian under-21 team and eventually progressed to his country's senior national team, for which he soon made his debut in the friendly match against world champions Italy on 16 August 2006 in Livorno, Italy. Croatia won the match 2–0 and Ćorluka, aged 20 during his debut, entered the game in the second half and satisfied critics with his very good, solid performance against experienced Serie A forwards.

During Croatia's UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying campaign, he became one of the key players under current head coach Slaven Bilić. Croatia finished first in Group E, notably ahead of Russia and favourites England, who eventually failed to qualify from the group.

Ćorluka was in the final match of the tournament where Croatia's exit came against Turkey in the extra time and penalty shootout.[25] Turkey winger Arda Turan revealed in an interview with UEFA that Ćorluka is the most difficult right-back he has ever played against, whom he came up against during this match.[26]